Gone Too Far
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 And thus began an era where prose stories were enjoyable again. | |||||||||||||
| "Gone Too Far" | |||||||||||||
| Publisher | Transformers Collectors' Club (online exclusive) | ||||||||||||
| First published | March 13, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Written by | Greg Sepelak and Trent Troop | ||||||||||||
| Illustrations by | Evan Gauntt | ||||||||||||
| Continuity | TransTech & Classics | ||||||||||||
| Page count | 28pp | ||||||||||||
Two Autobots try to make their way in Axiom Nexus and get more than they bargained for.
Synopsis
Jackpot and Hubcap, having been transported in a space bridge accident to an alternate Cybertron, are put through "processing" by the native Cybertroninains, known as the Transcendent Technomorphs. Jackpot is interrogated by a old robot named Nitpick, working for the Department of Acclimation. The gruff old bot asks his name and subjects him to a scan, gives him his Tech Specs, and sets him out to meet his guide. Reunited with Hubcap, Jackpot is intrigued by the "Jackpot III" designation on his tech specs, while his friend is uncomfortable. The two are suddenly greeted by Scattorshot, their guide, who welcomes them to Axiom Nexus. Over a cup of oil, Scattorshot explains that this Cybertron never had a Great War, and that most of the population remains neutral. Axiom Nexus is mostly filled with offworlders, with the TransTech's limited to the higher levels. When Jackpot inquires about why they're allowed to keep their weapons, Scattorshot tells him that most of the dangerous bots are sent back, while the ones that remain are usually glad to not have to fight anymore. Scattorshot tells them that aside from the TransTech guards and police in the upper levels, most of the policing is done by various guilds and factions in the non-TransTech zones, including the Offworlder "Shadow Government", the Order of Bureaucratic Enlightenment, the Freelance Police Legion, and the Elder Councils, the TransTech content to let them be as long as the offworlders remain peaceful. Jackpot is curious about how he's the third Jackpot, and Scattorshot proceeds to give him the "short" explanation on Transwarp. A realm of space that contains millions of alternate universes and realms, Transwarp space is used by most races to power faster-than-light travel, time travel, subspace storage pockets, portals, and interdimensional travel. Some of these universes are closer than others, causing near identical variations of its people to pop up. Hubcap wonders how and when they'll get home, and Scattorshot explains that they can leave anytime by applying exit visas, unless they've been designated a "unit of interest"-usually meaning they've participated in criminal activities or have unique technology that could potentially threaten planetary security. Getting up, Scattorshot leads them on a tour around the zones, until eventually being called back to begin another tour. Hubcap is suspicious of the entire process, but Jackpot wants to see the sites, and follows a bunch of cyborg aliens carry specimens to what he assumes is a zoo. An exasperated Hubcap follows his friend into the city.
After a few incidents, including the "zoo"/bounty reclamation office and getting into trouble with security at a crowed credits station when Hubcap calls it a scam, Hubcap and Jackpot arrive at a tavern called The Blue Deployer. Hubcap is annoyed that his senses are dulled by a jamming field, but is excited when he spots gambling games. Jackpot orders himself a drink, and is greeted by the proprietor, Cryotek. A jovial yet somewhat threatening TransTech, Cryotek tells the bot to enjoy his stay, although his "habit" won't be easy to indulge in. A confused and uneased Jackpot is glared at by Cryotek's subordinates, Black Shadow and Backslash, but puts his concerns aside. Heading over to check up on Hubcap, Jackpot finds his friend already having piles of credit-chips, and heads over to the roulette tables to flirt with the croupier. Hubcap, meanwhile, plays a game of Fullstasis (a card game based around quantum physics) with Gutcruncher, a Decepticon Action Master. Hubcap manages to calculate all the probabilities need to win the game, but when Jackpot comes over to watch his friend, his luck field warps them to allow for Gutcruncher to win. Hubcap looses all 53,000 of their credits, arguing with Jackpot before deciding to try and earn back their money in other games. Suddenly, they are interrupted by Dirge, who tells Hubcap that Gutcruncher he wants to talk to him. With Jackpot as his "consultant", Hubcap heads to Gutcruncher's booth. The Action Master admires the Mini-Bot's skills, and offers him a chance to join his team, figuring he owes Hubcap. Handing him a card, he tells him to come to Zone 9, Level 43 tomorrow evening. Leaving, Jackpot and Hubcap don't trust the Decepticon, but the two are told by Cryotek that with their financial states and the tavern's lack of a tab, it would be in their best interests to go to Gutcruncher's meeting. Cryotek tells them that while Gutcruncher may be a Decepticon, he's is nothing if not loyal this own cause, and generous to all his friends, and promises to have Backslash keep an eye on the two.
The next night, Jackpot and Hubcap find themselves at a rally, where numerous gangs have all gathered together to here what Gutcruncher has to say. Hubcap wants to stay to figure out what's going on, and agrees to run for it. The crowd goes silent when Gutcruncher gets on stage. Gutcruncher begins by calling out all the various gangs he sees from all corners of Axiom Nexus. Axiom Nexus, he claims, does not belong to the TransTech, but to the offworlders, despite the former having all the power. Gutcruncher calls for a truce between gangs to lead a revolution against the TransTech and take over the world. Jackpot and Hubcap, having seen enough, begin to leave, but a laser bolt flies past them, straight into the Decepticon's head. A voice accuses the two of having murdered Gutcruncher, and the two bots, surrounded by an angry mob, rush out. Jackpot uses his nucleon engine to burst forward as his friend follows in vehicle mode to the exit tunnel. Followed by the Malginus Revolutionaries, Jackpot hops on his friend as the lead Malignus, Jipe, grabs onto Hubcap's bumper. Jipe attempts to shoot Jackpot, but the Autobot kicks him back, sending one laserbolt into a fluid main. Coolant bursts from the pipes, and Hubcap and Jackpot are shot out of the tunnel on a huge geyser.
Safe for time being, Hubcap tunes into the police band, finding that they're wanted. After an unfruitful attempt to find help from other versions of themselves, the two head back to the Blue Deployer, figuring no one would look where the two lost all their money to their "victim". Cryotek, however, refuses to hide them, telling them of the price Dirge has put on their head. Not unsympathetic to their plight, the TransTech allows for them to head out of the back and tells them to head to Widow's Cafe Cybertronian, and sneak into the Heap, where the United Anarchists League might be able to hide them. His guards backing him up when Hubcap threatens him, Cryotek tells the two that he won't sell them out if only to prevent his buisness from being hit, and sends the two on their way. Walking through the alleways, Jackpot suggests that they should try to find the real killer. Hubcap objects; they aren't detectives, and besides, Gutcruncher was a Decepticon. While discussing this idea with his friend, Jackpot runs into a TransTech police officer. As the officer realizes who the two are, they run off, Hubcap carrying Jackpot on his vehicle mode top. "Listening in on the police band, Hubcap manages to head the opposite way, but as the two run into a warehouse, the TransTech police surround in, having known that Hubcap was listening to their communications."
Featured characters
(Numbers indicate order of appearance.)
| Autobots | Decepticons/Malignus | Others |
|---|---|---|
|
Quotes
Hubcap: "So, when do we get to go home?"
Scattorshot: "Oh, that. Whenever. You just gotta apply for exit visas, an' the 'Techs will deliver you to your universe of origin... or at least an approved alternate reality. Provided, a' course, that you ain't been designated 'units of interest'."
Jackpot: "And I'll take 'Ominous Terminology' for 500 shanix, 'Shot."
"Expression of menace and unveiled hostility. ...Ironic yet mean-spirited quip."
- —Black Shadow's Crossformer shell AI. It knows the words, my dear, but it will never master the tune.
"You are in Zoruul, capital city of Zegris. Please, are you to bring more terror as he did? If so, kindly strike us down in a more painless and efficient fashion, for we are running out of places to pile the rubble and the screams are disturbing the rest of the untouched."
- —Yurgeth is a practical-minded alien.
Notes
- Characters mentioned who do not appear include: two other Jackpots, Unicron, Sights, a creepy Hubcap, Megatron, Elita One, a Sharkticon, Nightbeat, Alpha Trion, Optimus Prime, Primus, and a Terrorcon.
- Characters who appear in art but not in-story include: Delta Seeker, Tigertrack, Deep Cover, Beastbox, Squawktalk, Duck Diver, Signal Lancer, Geno, Samus Aran, Tracks, Thrust, Manta Ray, Apeface, and Crowmax.
Continuity notes
- The Primax Cluster is mentioned in this story; this, along with the universal stream concept, would be built up in the following TransTech prose story, Withered Hope.
- The three strange bots Cheetor refers to are Skyfall, Landquake, and Breakaway; the three arrived in Axiom Nexus in Transcendent: Part 1, and Cheetor was part of the welcome party greeting them.
- The Generation 1 reality that Jackpot and Hubcap arrive in at the end of the story was later identified in The AllSpark Almanac II as Primax 207.0 Epsilon, the Classicsverse. It is not, however, the one that they came from, merely one that the TransTechs considered similar enough to deport them to.
Transformer references
- Their are a "lot" of non-TransTech offworlders throughout the story from various franchises. Aside from the main characters Generation 1 Jackpot, Hubcap, Gutcruncher and Victory Black Shadow, these include:
- Cybertron Scattorshot, Swerve, and Menasor.
- Fun Pub original characters Backslash and Buzzbomb.
- OTFCC 2003 Roulette.
- BotCon 2005 Dirge.
- Armada Demolishor.
- Robots in Disguise Bruticus.
- Marvel Generation 2 character Mindset.
- The Malignus from the South American Generation 1 toyline.
- European Generation 1 exclusive Calcar.
- Machine Wars Hubcap.
- Beast Wars Airazor in her Dawn of Future's Past body.
- Micron Booster wave 4 toy Detectas.
- Generaton 1 Scourge.
- Additionally, many characters appear in the illustration of downtown Axiom Nexus, including:
- Robotmasters Delta Seeker.
- Japanese Generation 1 exclusives Tigertrack and Deep Cover.
- Generation 1 Squawktalk, Beastbox and Apeface.
- Beastformers Duck Diver and Crowmax.
- Cybertron Signal Lancer.
- Beast Machines Thrust.
- Alternators Tracks.
- Generation 2 Manta Ray.
- The idea of subspace storage pockets originated as a fan-created concept that served as a communal explanation for where Transformers stored their weapons when they transformed, where size-changing characters' additional mass went, and where Optimus Prime's trailer regularly disappeared to.
- Jackpot describes himself as an Action Master; various characters in the story construe this to mean that he is a Nucleon addict. Several asides in the story explain some of how the Nucleon serves as a self-regenerating fuel source and a means of sudden power bursts.
- The humanoid beast cyborgs Jackpot follows are Beastformers, from the Headmasters series (sold in America as Battle Beasts).
- Scattorshot's next tour is for a Vehicon general from Beast Machines.
- Jackpot and Hubcap have to deal with Mini-Con pickpockets before heading to The Blue Deployer.
- Hubcap's ID card reads "Strength=3", in reference to his Tech Specs.
- Backslash and Buzzbomb also worked for their version of Cryotek in Theft of the Golden Disk.
- Jackpot drinks a Botropolis Special, named for the home of the Playskool Go-Bots.
- Jackpot and Hubcap are surprised to find that energon is not a currency in Axiom Nexus, but appreciate a currency format that isn't likely to explode, as energon is so often shown to do in the Generation 1 cartoons and comics.
- Fullstasis is a game introduced in Marvel UK Transformers comic issue #242.
- Jackpot: "Shall we make like a Scraplet and bolt?" Scraplets are a metal-eating parasite introduce in the original Marvel Transformers comics.
- Axiom Nexus is home to a whole host of teams, gangs, and subfactions. The United Anarchists League rule the Heap, to the extent that anarchists will deign to rule anything. Gutcruncher notes in his speech that the crowd includes representatives of the Destructicons , Free Technorgs League (Technorganics), Scourges (Presumably like the Sweeps), Destron Boys (named for the Japanese designation for the Decepticons), WildGuard, the Neo-Mutant Liberators, Beast-Riders (Beast Riders are chariot from the Beast Machines toyline), Mayhem Attackers (from the Marvel comics), the Malignus Revolutionaries (One of the South American Generation 1 toyline groups), and the Junkion Rippers (named for the species introduce in The Transformers: The Movie). He also mentions the Lightning Strikers (a Autobot group from the Dreamwave War Within comics), Imperius Legions, and Dinobots.
- Jackpot regrets the absence of Sights, his Targetmaster partner.
- The "other" Hubcap creeps out our Hubcap; Machine Wars Hubcap likes to use dead Decepticons for target practice.
- Jackpot notes the irony of them being unable to afford a disguise, which would have been in the form of a reformatting.
- Jackpot has "seen more to trust in a Sharkticon’s smile" than in Cryotek.
- While verbally harassing Jackpot about his "Nucleon habit", Stungun first quotes the Action Master tagline of "Stronger, faster, more alive", then parodies a line from the 2007 live-action film: "What else you into? Syk? Chips? Solitarium? Hit a little of the Old Fortran at nights?" (Syk is a drug introduced in Marvel UK's Transformers issue 275, while Solitarium is a mysterious ore from Robotmasters.) Jackpot plays along: "Are you on plugs?"
- Cheetor asks "And anyhow, did you want to live forever or something?" in reference to one of the many Furmanisms. (Jackpot and Hubcap: "Yes.")
- Hubcap tells the blue Decepticon hoverskiff (presumably Scourge) that he's been rigged with an Exponential Generator.
Real-world references
- Jackpot's personality is inspired by the "the goofy, gabby, pun-hurling Tony Oliver-voiced version" of Lupin the Third[1], while Hubcap's personality and mannerisms are based on comedian-magician Penn Jillette.
- In the prologue, Jackpot sarcastically suggest they play Three-Card Monty, named for the infamous scam card game.
- The various tiny pieces of art seen in the downtown Axiom Nexus illustrations are all various illustrations re-used by Evan Gauntt from previous work, including:
- A crossover between Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Gargoyles.
- A previous DeviantArt id used by Gauntt.
- A sketch of Sixshot.
- A sketch of Skullcruncher.
- An earlier version of the cover to Transformers Legends.
- A sketch of Leobreaker.
- A sketch of Sentinel Prime.
- An edited picture of Delta Seeker.
- A sketch of Alternators Overdrive.
- A sketch of Bantor.
- The European cover of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
- A picture of Omega/Zero from Mega Man Zero 3.
- Nintendo characters Geno (an obscure Mario character from Super Mario RPG) and Samus Aran (from the Metroid franchise) can be spotted hidden amongst the crowd in the illustration of downtown Axiom Nexus.
- Jackpot, as quoted above, parodies the contestant format of the game show Jeopardy!
- The Freelance Police Legion is a reference Sam & Max franchise, whose main characters are "freelance police officers".
- If you don't recognize Widow's Cafe Cybertronian, then it's been too long since you watched Casablanca— it's a stand-in for Rick's Cafe Americain, the club run by Humphrey Bogart's character. This, of course makes The Blue Deployer an analogue of Sydney Greenstreet's competing club, The Blue Parrot (the Beast Era Cryotek having owned a Deployer, who is a blue bird). This is not the first time that a Cryotek has been based on Greenstreet.
- "They can't catch us! We're the wind, baby!" Jackpot enthuses during a high-speed chase, paraphrasing Mystery Science Theater 3000's Tom Servo.
- "This is another fine mess you let me get us into," says Jackpot, a play on a famous Laurel & Hardy line.
- "Didn't we just leave this party?!" Jackpot says, quoting Han Solo.
- Boy, this thing borrows pretty heavily from The Warriors, doesn't it?
- "Olde Fortran" is an alcoholic beverage made for robots in Futurama, which was in turn a reference to the computer programming language FORTRAN.
External links
- "Gone Too Far" at The Official Transformers Collectors' Club
